Getting Students Organized (and keeping them there)
Vision Statement Our intentions are to assist you in guiding your students from the abyss that is their locker to the oasis of organization.
We want to target the student who:
Refuses to take notes
Loses their notes
Can find their work, but a half hour later
Leave stuff at home
Leaves stuff in the locker
Needs a pencil
Thinks the floor is a shelf
Our goal is to instill in these students a sense of pride and responsibility with help in the following areas.
1) Give the students a desire to learn the topic. For example show them the phenomena before giving the notes when possible, giving them a desire to learn.
2) Let the students take the notes. Chances are they dont think at your speed. Sometimes the students are really on task and listening, but not writing, instead trying to process. Frequent stops to give the kids 20 seconds to finish there notes and wrap there heads around it is often well taken and appreciated. Be carefull not to let them use this as off task time.
3) On those occasions when you need alot of teacher centered (or book centered) quite type work (research, review, major project intro etc.) try to remember how you would feel, especially in block schedules. Give the kids a few minutes to stretch and move - just make sure they know class isnt over.
4) Remeber kids, note taking is only one part of a complete breakfast - keep it interesting.
5) Next time the kids complain about vocab, pick the kid complaining the most and ask them to tell you that the leaf fell off the tree. Trick is they cant use the word leaf (or tree).... Then you may get them on task.
Disclaimer:
I/we are not promoting the chalk talk lecture day in and day out model, nor forcing students to take a full periods worth of notes. We are however saying that students are going to need to take notes, and thus we should make them effective when needed.
What about me?
-Not only do the students need to be organized, but you do as well. Everyone is diffent, but some of the following tips may be able to be added to your personal method (or lack thereof) to get yourselve to that place where you want to be. As a teacher many things are expected of you, you are responsible to various degrees to the administration, students, parents and yourself. Thats alot of shoes to fill so listen up.Here are some of the basics.
-Always plan that the computer wont work, the test will end early, the copier will be broke and the classroom will be flooded. It is far far better to be overplanned then under. The first day you are in your classroom and your activity runs short with nothing else to do, the kids will eat you alive. they will never know if you plan more than they get to.
-Test anything and everything that you can ahead of time. Labs, Demos, opening files (chances are the school software doesnt match yours) and even prounouncing all of the terms you want the students to remember. some of science is a tounge twister.
-Carry everything you may need with you (within reason) chances are (especially at the high school level) that you will be in multiple rooms over the course of the day. Make sure that you have spare notes and make up work for those students who find you away from your desk. Being able to whip out last nights work when little johny stops you in the hall withought running back to your room will earn you the kids respect.
-Keep work organized by day (folders/binders/boxes whatever) - this makes absences easy.
-Use your textbook. Im not saying to teach to the book, or test from the book, but it is a hundred dollar reasource that the students have. If you have a basic plan of the next couple weeks you can always assign those students with extended absences book work similar to what you will do in class, dont give them busy work, but you want to keep those kids following along.
You can't learn to swim until you're in water over your head
Click here to enter the "Dark and Lonely Place" of the student teacher and ways to find your way out of the labyrinth.
Vision Statement Our intentions are to assist you in guiding your students from the abyss that is their locker to the oasis of organization.
We want to target the student who:
Our goal is to instill in these students a sense of pride and responsibility with help in the following areas.
General Tips for Note Taking
1) Give the students a desire to learn the topic. For example show them the phenomena before giving the notes when possible, giving them a desire to learn.
2) Let the students take the notes. Chances are they dont think at your speed. Sometimes the students are really on task and listening, but not writing, instead trying to process. Frequent stops to give the kids 20 seconds to finish there notes and wrap there heads around it is often well taken and appreciated. Be carefull not to let them use this as off task time.
3) On those occasions when you need alot of teacher centered (or book centered) quite type work (research, review, major project intro etc.) try to remember how you would feel, especially in block schedules. Give the kids a few minutes to stretch and move - just make sure they know class isnt over.
4) Remeber kids, note taking is only one part of a complete breakfast - keep it interesting.
5) Next time the kids complain about vocab, pick the kid complaining the most and ask them to tell you that the leaf fell off the tree. Trick is they cant use the word leaf (or tree).... Then you may get them on task.
Disclaimer:
I/we are not promoting the chalk talk lecture day in and day out model, nor forcing students to take a full periods worth of notes. We are however saying that students are going to need to take notes, and thus we should make them effective when needed.What about me?
-Not only do the students need to be organized, but you do as well. Everyone is diffent, but some of the following tips may be able to be added to your personal method (or lack thereof) to get yourselve to that place where you want to be. As a teacher many things are expected of you, you are responsible to various degrees to the administration, students, parents and yourself. Thats alot of shoes to fill so listen up.Here are some of the basics.
-Always plan that the computer wont work, the test will end early, the copier will be broke and the classroom will be flooded. It is far far better to be overplanned then under. The first day you are in your classroom and your activity runs short with nothing else to do, the kids will eat you alive. they will never know if you plan more than they get to.
-Test anything and everything that you can ahead of time. Labs, Demos, opening files (chances are the school software doesnt match yours) and even prounouncing all of the terms you want the students to remember. some of science is a tounge twister.
-Carry everything you may need with you (within reason) chances are (especially at the high school level) that you will be in multiple rooms over the course of the day. Make sure that you have spare notes and make up work for those students who find you away from your desk. Being able to whip out last nights work when little johny stops you in the hall withought running back to your room will earn you the kids respect.
-Keep work organized by day (folders/binders/boxes whatever) - this makes absences easy.
-Use your textbook. Im not saying to teach to the book, or test from the book, but it is a hundred dollar reasource that the students have. If you have a basic plan of the next couple weeks you can always assign those students with extended absences book work similar to what you will do in class, dont give them busy work, but you want to keep those kids following along.
You can't learn to swim until you're in water over your head
- U. GallmanBack